Vayigash – Sheini

Yoseif Revealed!

By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz

Yehuda continued, “I personally guaranteed my father that we’d bring Binyamin back safely. I cannot return without him. Take me as your slave instead and let the boy go home.”

When he heard this, Yoseif couldn’t contain himself. He dismissed his attendants so that he could have privacy with his brothers. He then revealed to them who he really was, inviting them to come closer and see for themselves. Even though Yoseif had sent every else out, his sobs could be heard throughout the palace.

Now, if you had really, REALLY wronged someone, as the brothers had done to Yoseif, and if that person was now head of the mightiest empire in the world, you might be a little worried about retaliation – and rightly so! But Yoseif assured his brothers that he didn’t blame them for selling him, since the whole affair was clearly orchestrated by G-d. Yoseif’s presence in Egypt was necessary to save everyone from the famine, which he informed them was going to last another five years. It was what one might call “bashert,” or “meant to be.”